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Tag: housing allowance

  • Housing allowance passed due process, PDP NWC insists

    Housing allowance passed due process, PDP NWC insists

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insisted that the money paid to its national officers was not a bribe but housing allowance that passed through due process.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the Party National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on Tuesday night after the party NWC meeting in Abuja.

    Ologunagba said that the NWC at its meeting on Tuesday, thoroughly examined the strange publication by a particular newspaper which reported that the housing allowance legally paid by the Party to its national officers was bribed.

    “After a thorough scrutiny of the payment by the party, the NWC in session established that the payment was not a bribe but housing allowance.

    “Allowance duly approved and paid to national officers of the party in line with the conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party.

    “The NWC also established that the payment passed through due process procedures of the party in accordance with all extant financial regulations and payment approval processes of the party.

    “It Is also instructive to state that the national officers who returned their housing allowances equally confirmed and affirmed at the meeting that the payment was not bribe.

    “They affirmed it was their due entitlements in line with the Conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party,” Ologunagba said.

    He added that considering the above, the NWC resolved to conduct an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the said publication by the newspaper of Sept. 26.

    He said that the newspaper publication was clearly targeted to cause disaffection among members and stakeholders of the party as well as bring the party to disrepute before its teeming supporters all over the world particularly in an election year.

    “Consequently, the NWC has set up an Investigative Committee headed by the National Legal Adviser to conduct an inquiry into the source of the said malicious and injurious publication.”

    The committee according to Ologunagba has one week to investigate the matter and report back to the NWC for further action.

  • PDP bribery scandal takes new turn as NWC issues denial

    PDP bribery scandal takes new turn as NWC issues denial

    The People’s Democratic Party, PDP has denied bribery laced in housing allowance returned by some members of the party’s National Working Committee.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this was contained in a statement signed by Hon Debo Ologunagba
    National Publicity Secretary.

    TNG recalls the social media was awash late Thursday night with stories that six members returned a mysterious amount credited to their accounts as housing allowance.

    Among those who have returned the alleged bribe are the Deputy National Chairman, South, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the National Women Leader, Prof Stella Effah-Attoe and the National Vice-Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih.

    Araphaja has returned N36 million paid to him while Effah-Attoe and Orbih each returned N28 million.

    All claimed that the money paid to them from the party was suspicious.

    The money was paid to them in the form of housing allowance.

    There were also reports that the National Vice Chairman Southeast, Dr Alli Odefa, the National Vice-Chairman, Southwest Adagunobi-Oluwatukesi and the Deputy National Secretary, Hon Setonji Koshoedo have also returned their own portions of the money paid out to the party members.

    The return of the money follows reports that the NWC members had been settled to overlook allegations of the misappropriation of the N10 billion collected as nomination fees from aspirants for elective political offices during the recent round of primaries.

    Apparently to douse the tension generated over the returned strange money the PDP publicity scribe issued a denial saying:

    “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to misrepresenting reports in a section of the media alluding strange and unfounded motives to the Housing Allowance duly approved and paid to NWC members and staff of the Party

    “The NWC has noted that this misleading report stemmed from an unfounded publication by a particular media outlet which suggested that the Housing Allowance, an entitlement duly approved and paid to national officials and staff of the Party amounted to bribery.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP states in an unequivocal term that no funds were paid into the account of any member of the NWC as bribe for any purpose whatsoever for that matter.

    “To set the record straight, the Housing Allowance being referred to went through the Due Process of the Party in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.

    “If any individual, for any reason decides to return money duly approved and paid, such does not in any way suggest that the money was paid as bribe or indicate that it was illegitimate or unlawfully paid.

    “A bribe is defined as “money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person especially in that person’s performance as a public official…”. This is not the case in the payment of Housing Allowance duly approved for officials and staff of the Party.

    “The PDP therefore urges all members, teeming supporters and the general public to disregard the report and misleading insinuation which are clearly designed to malign the PDP, cause disaffection and distract our Party from our mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).